Parents at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield rally in face of board's decision to close school

Left to right are New Leadership Charter School parent Eutrina Holley, 11th-grade year teacher Frances Swain, and parent Zaida Govan as they meet Saturday at the Spring of Hope Church in Springfield to discuss the board of trustees decision to close the school. The Republican / Mike Beswick

SPRINGFIELD - As New Leadership Charter School appears to be gasping its last breath after 15 years in the city, a group of bewildered parents are still fighting against hope to keep it open.

Drawing on the resources of the NAACP and a student petition drive, a group of parents, students and supporters met at the Spring of Hope Church at 35 Alden St. on Saturday to discuss their concerns and outlying hopes to keep the school afloat.

Chairman of the Board Peter Daboul announced earlier this week that members withdrew their application for a fourth, five-year charter renewal. He and state education officials confirmed that the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education had signaled it would yank the charter for long-standing underperformance.

The newly formed New Leadership Parent Board announced Saturday that it would essentially stage a coup with a vote of "no confidence" in the board. Dozens of parents and teachers who met at the church settled on fighting the fight themselves.

"We thank you for the time you served, although there is no evidence that you have accomplished very much during your time of service. Therefore we are taking over and accomplishing what we need to do for our children," the letter to the trustees read.

Daboul said after the meeting that he doubted the parents' chances considering the charter was granted to the board of trustees.

The charter school on Alderman Street in the former Holy Name school site served 500 students in grades 6 to 12.

Daboul said that the school is a Horace Mann model, which hobbled the school in that its funding flowed from the state through the city, which shaved a significant portion of its budget for administrative costs and shuffled the school to four different sites in 15 years. The Horace Mann model also requires unionized teachers, which Daboul said impeded personnel decisions.

"The state doesn't see these as hurdles. We do. The board fought very hard to keep the school open. If people question our commitment to the school, they're just mistaken," Daboul said.

Though the school was placed on probation in 2011 by Mitchell D. Chester, commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, several parents said they were unaware the school had remained on that status. In fact, Daboul said he had received verbal notice that the school had emerged from probation.

During an interview on Thursday, however, Chester said the school was still on probation when their charter came up for renewal and the overall academics at the school had slipped even further since the last review.

In a May 2011 memo Chester submitted to the Board of Secondary and Elementary Education, he called the school's academic performance "lackluster" and noted organizational and financial problems.

"I have given substantial consideration to revocation," Chester wrote. "Unless there is substantial improvement in the school's operation and in the academic performance of its students between now and early 2013, I will consider non-renewal."

Chester on Thursday said he felt the school had limped along for long enough.

"We’re seeing a school that’s been in business a long time but not on an improvement trajectory. They've been at odds with the school district; they've had troubles with finances and facilities and struggled with its mission with a focus on leadership development," Chester said. " (But) if I had been looking at a school where academics were on the rise it likely would have trumped all those other concerns."

The probationary period was publicized at the time but many parents on Saturday said they were unaware the school was in such a tenuous position. Students are slated to be absorbed into the conventional public schools - bumping up that population by 4 percent and swelling waiting lists for the city's four high schools.

Among the weak points noted in the 2011 memo were comparatively low English and math MCAS scores; though, proponents of the school note they were higher than most of their counterparts in the district. Also highlighted were the school's ongoing financial struggles with the school district for reimbursements; its commitment to its "leadership" mission and scant supplies.

Daboul conceded the school was under-supplied for a time as it battled the school district for better reimbursement. In addition, he noted that after the latest move to Alderman Street (where the city has a 10-year lease with the Catholic Diocese) it lacked phone lines and access for the handicapped for an extended period. For example, one student who uses a wheelchair had to be carried in and out of the rest room by fellow students for more than a year and could not get into the cafeteria to eat with his peers.

Board Treasurer Robert Schwarz of Peter Pan Bus Lines resigned his position on Jan. 16, raising eyebrows among already skeptical staff and parents.

Schwarz, however, said his resignation had nothing to do with the school's dire straits, but more to do with his hectic traveling schedule - primarily focused on a casino proposal for the city that would take the bus lines' property.

"I was not a stellar volunteer. And I feel very, very badly that I was absent during this period," Schwarz said, adding that he tried to stayed apprised of school affairs via email when he was traveling.

Daboul said Schwarz had been a diligent member of the board previously and his recent spotty attendance had nothing to do with the school's demise.

Michael Nai, a math teacher at New Leadership who attended Saturday's meeting, raised the fact that the school had been through four principals in five years and lacked consistent leadership.

Social studies chairwoman Frances Swain said wondered if supporters should have had the foresight to override the board long ago.

"I feel the board is culpable," she said.

One parent, Omayra Pimentel, has five children at the school and said she was temporarily rebuffed by the school department when she sought new placements for them.

"They told me to come back in February," she said.

Her daughter, Kaira Cortes, 17, said she was on the verge of dropping out of school until her mother moved her to New Leadership.

"I cried when she said she was going to put me here. I thought it would be too strict. Now I'm on the honor role and I cried when they told me we had to leave," Cortes said.

A group of New Leadership supporters intend to travel to a Department of Secondary and Elementary Education business meeting in Bridgewater on Tuesday, where they will be allocated six minutes to speak.